A lacto-ovo-vegetarian dietary pattern is protective against sarcopenic obesity: A cross-sectional study of elderly Chinese people.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between dietary patterns and the risk of sarcopenic obesity (SO) in community-dwelling elderly people.

METHODS: SO was defined as the coexistence of sarcopenia and obesity. Participants with low skeletal muscle index, low muscle strength, or low physical performance were diagnosed with sarcopenia, whereas obesity was defined as waist circumference ≥85 cm in men and ≥80 cm in women. Dietary patterns were determined by principal component analysis. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between dietary patterns and SO.

RESULTS: Among 3795 Chinese participants, 112 (3.0%) were diagnosed with SO. After adjustment for confounding variables, lacto-ovo-vegetarian dietary pattern was negatively associated with risk of SO. The odds ratio for SO was 0.79 (95% confidence interval, 0.65-0.97; P = 0.027) for the lacto-ovo-vegetarian dietary pattern, whereas meat-fish and junk food dietary patterns were not associated with the risk of SO.

CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that older people should have a balanced daily diet such as a lacto-ovo-vegetarian dietary pattern to prevent the occurrence and progression of SO.